Kukla's Korner Hockey

Though the final chapter in team owner Jeff Vanderbeek’s nine-year stewardship of the Stanley Cup-winning franchise was written last week, the storyline was being drafted for several years, court records show.

Angry contractors, upset to find themselves on the hook for millions laid out for services essential to the Prudential Center’s day-to-day operations, turned to the courts to get the Devils to pay up.

The company that cleans the Prudential Center got dragged into litigation, as did the team’s primary food and beverage provider. Things got so bad that the team accused the concession company of refusing to feed Devils players during the fall of 2011. And the team accused the cleanup crews of finishing off beers patrons left behind.

And others, like Jeff Braverman, the co-owner of the family-run Newark Nut Co., a 75-year-old city landmark, walked away feeling betrayed.